Punjab govt to call all-party meet to discuss ways to address depletion of groundwater

An all-party meeting would be convened soon to evolve a broad consensus to comprehensively address the problem of depletion of groundwater in Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said here on Friday. Singh chaired a high-level meeting to discuss ways and means to resolve the alarming situation emerging out of fast depleting groundwater table across the state, an official statement said.

The meeting was attended by ministers, senior officers, water experts, scientists and representatives of farmer organisations and industry. The chief minister announced constitution of a committee under Additional Chief Secretary (Development) Viswajeet Khanna and Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University B S Dhillon to explore the possibility for change in the existing cropping pattern, besides developing a viable scheme to motivate farmers to give up the sowing of paddy, it is a water-guzzling crop, and switch to alternative crops such as maize, pulses, vegetables and horticulture crops.